Baby Food: When to Start it?

As a first time mother there are a lot of things that can be uncertain when raising your child. There is advice from your parents, other parents, doctors,the internet, and many other places that can be helpful but how do you know that your doing your job well? If your baby is happy and healthy you'll know it.

Introducing your baby to solid foods really all depends on your baby. Not every baby is the same so to go by the book may not be for your child. The doctors told me that my baby shouldn't be eating baby cereal until he hit 5 months. My son started eating baby cereal at 2 months and baby food at 3 months. Is my child obese? Definitely not. My son was born 3 weeks prematurely and I can understand my doctors concern with not wanting to feed my child food at such an early age but my child was hungry. You as a mother know whats best for your child. If you are unsure if feeding your child cereal or food is right, test it out. Start with feeding your child a little bit of cereal in the formula or breast milk. You want to start with the rice cereal because no one is allergic to rice.If your baby eats it without spitting it up he or she is ready for it. When you are ready to try out solid foods start by mixing a little bit of the formula or breast milk into the cereal and spoon feed it to your baby with a soft spoon. If they don't take it well you can always try again later. That is to help your baby with the consistency of the food for the later testing of baby food. When your baby does well with the cereal, it may be time to try out the baby food. Start with the 1st foods like bananas, carrots, apples, peas, etc. 1st foods will be labeled on the jar. Make sure you still give your baby formula for that is where they get their iron. If your baby breaks out immediately on any of the foods or cereals, do not continue feeding the baby that particular food for it may mean your baby is either allergic to it or not ready for it at that age. I hope this tips have helped all you first time mothers out there. We all learn as we go along and we also learn from each other.